The Plan
by Lanerose
Summary: Post KHII, Yuffie and Aerith have a plan to spice things up in Radiant Garden. Will Cloud, Leon, and Sora survive? [One shot, Written for Lithele.]


_**The Plan**_

_**(A KH Fanfiction Paying Homage to Both FF7 and Clue)**_

_For Lithele_

"So it's a plan?" Yuffie asked, raising her dark brown eyes to meet fair green ones with a mischievous sparkle. Aerith nodded in response, trying to look solemn but failing as a grin quirked the corners of her mouth upward. "Great! They'll never know what hit 'em!"

Radiant Garden had always been a peaceful place, and to preserve that aura of peace, its name had been changed to Hollow Bastion when the Heartless took over the town. Now that it had been cleared of both Heartless and Nobodies, the town had resumed its original mantle, and restored its peace. The townspeople had rejoiced, and celebrated, and settled down to enjoy the lives they remembered in their once more tranquil home. There was one problem with peace, though:

It got boring.

Yuffie and Aerith had collectively decided that for the good of the town, something needed to break. Between the two of them, they could accomplish anything – just a little help from their unwitting friends, and the garden they had loved would be back to _normal_ rather than back to _peace_.

Giggling to themselves, the two girls rushed to find their "volunteers" for the project. It was almost disappointing how easy their targets were to find. Honestly, just how many times a day did a man need to polish his weapons? It seemed like Cloud and Leon were _always_ sitting there, working on them.

"No way!" Aerith began, her voice loud and lilting. The vict- volunteers seemed to be paying attention. Good. "I'm telling you, Yuffie, Cloud would win!"

"You're crazy!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her hands up. The boys' ears had perked up at the mention of Cloud's name, she could tell. Their hands had stilled on their

weapons and glances were not so subtly being thrown in their direction. "Leon could totally take him, any day of the week! Right, Leon?"

Weapons were suddenly being polished again furiously as the two men tried (unsuccessfully) to hide the fact that they had been listening. Yuffie and Aerith exchanged a quick grin before walking closer. Aerith reach out and grabbed Cloud's face, turning it towards Yuffie. Startled, Cloud turned towards her.

"Look at him!" Aerith exclaimed. "Can you honestly tell me that you think Leon could beat him?"

"Yes!" Yuffie exclaimed, wrapping herself around Leon's shoulders and forcibly turning him towards Cloud and Aerith. "Just look at him! Cloud would be totally pathetic compared to Squall!"

"Leon." The man in question corrected her automatically, shaking his shoulders to throw her off. Yuffie simply squeezed tighter, and watched the way he and Cloud were eyeing each other.

The two of them had never actually competed in battle, since sword and gunblade weren't particularly compatible in training. They'd fought _together_ loads of times, but this was different. This was the grand, time-old tradition of seeing which man had the bigger… that is, _greater_ ability. A fine tradition indeed, and one with too much potential to be left alone.

"Well there's only one way to know for sure!" Aerith exclaimed at last. The two men turned to her as she continued, "You'll prove to her that I'm right, won't you, Cloud?"

"Like that's gonna happen!" Yuffie replied. "You'll show her for me, won't you, Leon?"

The two men stared at each other for a long moment. Aerith and Yuffie let them think it through, careful to keep their matching smirks to the small superior sort that being right would have given them rather than the out and out grins from the havoc they were about to wreak.

"What could it hurt to give them a demonstration of our skills?" Leon asked eventually, eyeing Cloud in challenge.

"If you don't mind losing…" Cloud said, nodding in acceptance.

_Here, fishy, fishy._ Yuffie grinned.

"Promise?" Aerith asked, the very picture of innocence. The two men nodded resolutely, grabbing their weapons.

_Caught._

"Sora!" Aerith exclaimed, waving down to the brown haired boy from the second story of the Restoration Committee's Headquarters. He turned from his position in front of the door and caught sight of her, then grinned and waved back.

"It's great to see you again! What are you doing here?" She continued, then eyed him suspiciously. "The worlds aren't about to be destroyed again, are they?"

"Just thought I'd drop by to visit!" He replied, reaching one hand up to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "Nothing earth-shattering or anything like that, I promise! I just wanted to see how everyone was doing."

"Who's there, Aeri?" Yuffie's voice floated down from inside the house.

"It's Sora!" Aerith said, turning her head over her shoulder briefly before whipping it back around. "Sora, stay right where you are! You showed up at the perfect time! We've got a surprise for you!"

With that, she whirled away from the window. Sora stepped back from the door, shaking his head.

"A surprise, huh?" He wondered aloud, turning away from the door. The Restoration Committee appeared to be doing a great job so far. It had been a pleasant surprise for Sora to not be attacked on his way to their base of operations. As he smiled up at the blue sky, Sora said, "I wonder how they knew I was coming?"

"We didn't," a voice replied behind him, and that was all the warning Sora got before he was tackled to the ground. The body on top of him got off quickly, and the boy rolled over to look up at a smirking ninja with a hand outstretched to help him back to his feet. "Geez, Sora, out of practice much?"

"No, no, just wasn't expecting to be attacked by friends." He stretched his hand towards hers and let Yuffie help pull him to his feet. "So what's the surprise?"

Sora realized there was probably something wrong with the way her face lit up at the question.

"Oh, wait till you see!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her hands out expansively. "Leon and Cloud are having a contest. Aerith's doing the finishing touches on Cloud, and then they'll be –"

"Right out!" Aerith finished, stepping through the open door. She walked over to give Sora a quick hug. "It's good to see you again."

"So you'll judge the contest for us, right?" Yuffie asked, peering up at Sora excitedly. "After all, I did Leon and she did Cloud, so we're both too biased and clearly can't. We were gonna have Cid, but since you're here, you can save us the trouble of trying to find him!"

"Finishing touches? You _did_ them? Wha-?" Sora stuttered. The matching grins on the faces of the two girls before him assured Sora that he would get no answer from them. Shaking his head, the brown-haired boy continued, "I guess I can help. What kind of competition is it?"

"You'll see!" Yuffie replied gleefully, darting back into the house. Aerith winked at him as she dodged after her friend, and Sora couldn't help but wonder what he'd gotten himself into. Sounds of a struggle including a few distinct shouts of "Come ON!" and "Yes, you have to!", came from inside the building. Several minutes later, Aerith and Yuffie finally dragged Cloud and Leon into the square.

For a moment, Sora simply stared.

When that moment ended, he burst out laughing.

"So, Sora," Yuffie asked, throwing a hand around his shoulders as Aerith shut the door firmly and walked over to join the two, "who's the prettier girl, Leona or Cloudette?"

"Well..." Sora began, trying desperately to control his laughter as he studied the figures before him, "Cloud looks great in that blue dress. Leon's red one is really nice, too."

"It's one of mine!" Aerith said, blatantly ignoring the way Cloud flushed a color even closer to the shade of Leon's dress as she smiled. Leon's glare just dared Sora to continue, and the boy found himself grinning just like the girls on either side of him. Aerith continued, "I had to lend it to Yuffie for him because she didn't have any dresses."

"Is the blue one yours, too, then?" Sora asked, eyeing the way it fit snugly to the blond man and wondering how Aerith had managed it. Leon may have been wearing a red dress, but it clearly didn't fit him at all, baring his non-existent cleavage. Cloud's dress, on the other hand, looked like it had been tailor-made for him.

"No." Aerith said. Cloud turned even redder, his arms crossed angrily before him as he stared at the ground. Sora turned to look at Aerith, wary of the unholy joy in her eyes. "It's Cloud's."

Sora nearly fell over when the man in question didn't even attempt to deny it, instead whirled back towards the door to their headquarters. He twisted the knob and pushed on it – but the door didn't give. He jiggled the handle, calmly at first, then more frantically. The door remained unyielding before him. Next to Sora, Aerith gave a light laugh.

"Whoops!" she said, and Cloud spun about to face her. "Must have locked us out by accident! Sorry!"

Cloud and Leon both stared at her, dumbfounded. Aerith and Yuffie took advantage of the moment to begin making their getaway. A minute or two later, when both men had recovered, they rushed past Sora in chase, shouting extremely uncomplimentary things about their two friends as they went.

"Aww man," Sora remarked as he watched the two men in dresses chase after his female friends, "I wish I'd brought Riku and Kairi to meet them this time. They're never gonna believe me about this…"

**That's one way it could have happened, but how about this?**

"So, Sora," Yuffie asked, throwing a hand around his shoulders as Aerith shut the door firmly and walked over to join the two, "who's the prettier girl, Leonette or Cloudia?"

Sora tried to respond, but laughter silenced any words he might have gotten out.

"Yes, please tell us, Sora!" Aerith said after a minute, tugging on Sora's arm in an effort to get his attention. Cloud leaned against the side of the building, arms crossed over his chest as he hid his face under the long hair that now framed his face. Leon had his back to the other side of the door frame, and seemed to be settling for glaring at them.

"Well, Leon looks lovely," the brown haired boy eventually managed to choke out, "I love the chocobo feather in his hair, Yuffie."

"It's a tradition in my hometown!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Leon's expression grew fiercer still. Cloud coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. Sora grinned.

"Cloud, though – wow, Aerith!" He said, eyeing the deep blue dress that fell perfectly across Cloud's body, and the long blond hair that brushed his shoulders. "If I didn't know for a fact you're not a woman, I'd want to protect you. You're not a woman, right, Cloud?"

Stormy blue eyes stared angrily into his, before glancing over towards Leon. Leon, too, looked more than a little annoyed. Both men straightened. Leon's eyes lit with a sudden spark, and Sora found himself suddenly in fear for his life.

"Aerith?" Leon queried, his voice deceptively soft. The woman in question turned towards him.

"Yes?" She replied curiously.

"You had a green dress that's about Sora's size, didn't you?" he asked. Yuffie started grinning, and both Cloud and Leon walked slowly forward. Sora backed up a bit, arms outstretched in protest.

"Yes, yes, I think I do!" Aerith answered, her own eyes alight with mischief.

"Sora?" Leon said. The boy in question gulped, and looked over at the dark haired man in the red dress. "Run."

Sora did.

**Or maybe it was like this?**

Several minutes later, Aerith and Yuffie finally dragged Cloud and Leon into the square.

For a long time, Sora simply stared. As he did so, Aerith and Yuffie moved to stand beside him and admire their handiwork, snickering.

"Go ahead and laugh, Sora." Leon said eventually, breaking the silence. The slit of the low-cut red dress he wore inched dangerously high as he leaned against the left side of the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. Cloud said nothing, standing rigidly to the right of the door, his face turned away from them.

"I wasn't gonna – well, okay, I was." Sora admitted sheepishly, his face turning red. The two girls certainly were – their laughter had become even sharper.

"It's all right." Leon replied steadily, his expression softening. He reached over with his right hand and grabbed Cloud's left hand, gently massaging the top of it with his thumb. "We don't mind, do we, Cloud?"

The blond blushed an even deeper red and shook his head. Aerith and Yuffie's laughter was effectively silenced, the two of them now gazing slack-jawed at the men they had forced into dresses. Leon stepped closer to Cloud, wrapping his left arm protectively around Cloud's waist. Leon relinquished the other man's hand to gently grab Cloud's chin and tilt his face upward.

"Isn't it fine, Cloud?" Leon asked, leaning close to the blond.

"I TOLD you they were together!" Yuffie shrieked, breaking from her paralysis to grab Aerith's hand and jump up and down. At the same moment, Cloud pulled away from Leon, glaring at the man in the red dress.

"I TOLD you this wouldn't work!" Cloud shouted as he stalked back inside the house. Leon scowled again, casting one last dirty look at the three people remaining outside before heading indoors himself.

"Eh-heh…" Sora laughed uncomfortably, glancing back and forth between the two women."

"Well, that settles it." Aerith said with a self-satisfied smile on her face. She looked down at the ninja, who suddenly seemed to want to be anywhere else. Sora feared what was about to happen. "You remember our bet, right?"

"Aerith, you wouldn't make me – " Yuffie began, but trailed off.

Aerith smiled a soft smile that under any other circumstance would probably not have seemed half as threatening as it did. Pouting, the ninja hurried back into the building behind them. Sora uncertainly watched her go.

"What's the bet for?" Sora asked, turning to Aerith. The girl in the pink dress's grin grew wider and she shook her head.

"Never mind, Sora. Never mind," she replied, and Sora promptly decided that his wisest course of action was to do just that.

"So, wait!" Sora said. Aerith stopped on her way back into the house and turned to face him. "I'm confused. Are they together or not?"

Aerith grinned at him. With a soft chuckle, she walked into the house.

"Aerith? Aerith!"

**Now that we're done playing around, here's what really happened…**

Several minutes later, Aerith and Yuffie finally dragged Cloud and Leon into the square.

For a long time, Sora simply stared. As he did so, Aerith and Yuffie moved to stand beside him and admire their handiwork, snickering.

"Go ahead and laugh, Sora." Leon said eventually, breaking the silence between them. He tugged at the red dress he wore slightly below the slit that had been sliding dangerously upward. Cloud stared blankly into space, ignoring the fact that he was wearing a blue dress as best he could. Leon glared at Sora and continued, "Just get it over with so we can finish this ridiculous contest and I can get out of this outfit."

"What's so funny?" Sora asked eventually, glancing oddly at his four companions.

"Sora!" Yuffie said, gaping at him. "Do you really not get it? It's Leon and Cloud! In dresses! It's Leon and Cloud wearing dresses!"

"Well I can _see_ that," Sora replied, shrugging. "But what's everyone finding so funny?"

"It's _Leon_ and _Cloud_ wearing _dresses_," Yuffie repeated, grabbing Sora's arm and shaking him. Cloud had perked up a bit and was now actively listening to the conversation instead of staring off into space. Leon had stopped trying to adjust the dress and settled for standing perfectly still. "You don't see anything funny about this?"

Sora shrugged. Yuffie looked completely flabbergasted, and sputtered incoherently. Aerith, too, looked more than slightly confused. Cloud, on the other hand, had a tiny almost smile on his face, and Leon was openly laughing at the way the plan had backfired. Ultimately, Yuffie threw up her hands in exasperation and stalked off, dragging Aerith along with her.

"So, Sora," Leon said when the three men were alone, "what made you react like that?"

Sora snorted, and looked up at him with a grin.

"Kairi was one of mine and Riku's best friends growing up, you know," Sora replied, shaking his head, "and if you think Riku was the one who got forced into playing dress up, you're crazier than I thought."

**The End **


End file.
